Zutto Sobani Ite (Always be with Me)
by Lilyrose Aberdeen
Summary: Jaden, Aurelia and Kaya have only just begun to fathom what a life of dark immortality could mean, yet they are not afraid, for they are together. But there are lessons to be learned on the Devil's Road, and perhaps the hardest will be left to Kaya...
1. Before we begin ( it's not the Preamble,...

~*~ The characters of Kaya, Jaden, Aurelia, and Anosuke belong, respectively, to myself, Jaden, Aurelia and   
Anosuke. The character of Khayman belongs to the heart and soul of Anne Rice. I promise you, Ms. Rice,   
I've only borrowed him, and he will be returned to you undamaged at the conclusion of this story to do with him   
whatever you see fit, as he is yours and I acknowledge your ownership and the love I am sure you feel for him.   
This goes for any of your other characters that may or may not pop in along the way. Please don't sue me, Ma'am;   
I'm young and easily influenced. I mean this from the bottom of my heart and with the upmost respect. ~*~  
  
(How's that for a disclaimer?)  
  
What is to follow is a little something my friends and I have been acting out for a while. This is obviously not   
a true story in the conventional sense. Also, it is as of yet kojichu, but that will hopefully be remedied in the near   
future. I love these intros so much, I think it's unhealthy. Perhaps in time, if the story is popular   
enough, I will write a few more, but for now this remains, sadly, a solitary work. Please read and review. I crave   
your thoughts and input... and as I am firm believer that life isn't perfect and you need to accept it as it comes,   
I welcome the good with the bad. If you don't like the story, tell me. Go ahead. I will not cry, I promise.   
I honestly want to know. Ideas are also greeted with open arms. I hope you like "Zutto Sobani Ite."   
It kind of grows on you after a while....  
  
And now, the time has come for me to free you to the world of my thought and imagination.   
Sumimasen, no maps, detours or refunds. I bid thee farewell for now, dear reader! And don't worry, it only   
seems kinky the first time ^.^  
  
Matane! 


	2. Enter Jaden

He was not really a striking character; that is, there was nothing about the young man, really,  
that would make you look twice… with the possible exception of his compelling beauty, perhaps. In most ways, he seemed to be an average human male. He was of an averagely tall height and an average weight. His hair was just long enough to be tucked behind his ears, sandy blonde in color and straight. He had high, prominent cheekbones, a determined jaw line, and a straight, proportionate nose. His eyes may have caught notice if he cared to fix them on you, being large, wide set and fringed with long, thick lashes. His eyebrows, finely drawn and a shade darker than his hair, gave his face a very serious, almost severe look; or they would have if their color had not been such a surprisingly light shade of grey, and if they hadn't been as luminous as a cut crystal, glittering and picking up the tones of his plain white shirt to fix facets of white ice among the stormy greys, blues, and occasional traces of silver. Maybe if you looked long enough, you would notice the paleness of his skin that was so rare in a nearly tropical climate such as you found in New Orleans, and the way it shone like the side of a pearl in the lamplight. Perhaps your eyes would be drawn to his hands, perfectly ordinary hands except for the manicured fingernails that shone like polished glass, or the way his hair shimmered as if it were made of spun silk rather than human hair. All this you may have noticed if you'd bothered to look at the young man seated beneath the tree who seemed to be completely absorbed in thought. Of course, the fact that he was in deep thought may have had something to do with it, too…  
The young man, who's name was Jaden Phoenix, sighed, rested his chin in his hand. It was no use. One stray look from a person he'd never met had sent him into a fit of anxiety over his appearance   
(apparently he didn't notice that women were drawn to him like moths to a flame and flocked about him wherever he went). You'd think after this many years I'd be used to it! He thought with a slight scowl before standing, instinctively wiping the back of his faded blue jeans and walking on his way again, arms crossed casually over his chest. It had been four nights since Aurelia had left to visit Kaya in Hiroshima. He knew that he really shouldn't be so worried about her. Innocent and helpless as she may seem, Aurelia was more than capable of watching out for herself, as she'd proved to him countless times before. The truth was, the moment she'd left he'd been gripped by a loneliness the likes of which he'd never known before. True, he had declined to accompany her on the excursion, but now he regretted his decision. It wasn't that he didn't like Kaya. He was really pretty fond of the kid even though he didn't know her that well. And she owned in this huge, ancient Japanese palace that made him pretty uneasy, despite himself (never mind that they would be staying in her Hiroshima flat this time). Also, he knew that all those two would do was watch Brad Pitt movies in the one modern room in Kaya's home and take spur-of-the-moment shopping sprees in Tokyo to buy pink shoes and sparkly hair scrunchies and other distinctly female items.  
Jaden shook his head. He'd have been just bored, bored, bored if he'd gone, but somehow, even that boredom sounded like heaven compared to this stifling loneliness. Almost against his will, he felt himself turn and return to the flat he and Aurelia shared, to makes plans for his departure to Hiroshima.  
  
  
  
Jaden stepped off the plane with just enough time to fetch his single suitcase and get to his hotel room before sunrise. Just knowing that Aurelia was in the same city seemed to ease his loneliness immensely. Upon arriving in his room, he stowed his suitcase in a corner, flipped the "Do Not Disturb" sign, and went into the windowless bathroom, locking the door securely behind him.   
He was a bit confused when he woke up in a dark room the next evening, being unable to stretch out on a surprisingly comfortable tile floor. It took less than a second to remember where he was and why he came, however, and he was up, awake, and ready for action. Taking up his suitcase (which was really a moderate-sized shoulder bag) he set off into the heart of the city, wondering at the fact that such a joyful, bright, alive city could ever have been the ground-zero blowout area he'd seen pictures of in high school. He was also amazed that despite his undeniably American appearance, no one seemed to pay him a lick of notice, save for a few scattered clumps of school girls in adorably cliche uniforms. If it had been a role reversal, and the Japanese had dropped the bomb on, say, Pittsburgh, and he were distinctly Japanese, hell, even just Asian in apperance, he would've been ridiculed and stared at like a side-show carnival freak. Land of the Free. Go figure.   
Once he found the building, it was easy enough to get to the penthouse suite that Kaya owned. Actually, the kid owned the whole building… but that was beside the point. He waited as the elevator rose, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes for a moment or two. They snapped open when the compartment stopped, and he ventured out into the dark hallway. Again, he felt unnerved. Kaya's tastes in home décor were alien to him, and he found himself eyeing the ancient samurai armor that lined both walls with a raised brow. It was much darker than he remembered, and the whole place smelled of light incense, orchids and other flowers. Jaden walked along slowly, looking at the katana sets on the walls and the spears displayed beside them. He felt like he had been locked in a museum after hours...  
The whole time Jaden had an uneasy feeling as if he were being watched, and try as he might he couldn't tell if Kaya and Aurelia were there. In fact, he couldn't pick up the presence of any beings in or around the flat… and that unnerved him, as well. His last thought was cut short as his shoulders were grabbed harshly from behind and he was shoved, flying roughly twelve feet before he was able to check himself. "What the F---!" he roared, and then let out a growl of fury and spun quickly, dropping his bag and throwing the attacker off… but not far enough, he decided as the being rushed him from the front and landed a stunning blow to his face. In response, Jaden reached out and fixed his hands firmly around the creature's throat; and squeezed.   
By this time, they were on the ground grappling like schoolboys in a playground fistfight, knocking into walls and display cases and uttering curses at each other. The being, now on the bottom of the brawl, landed a fierce uppercut to Jaden's jaw. Jaden, who was now extremely angry, responded by lifting the creature by his neck and pinning him to the wall, knocking over a suit of ancient armor with no little noise and the creature fixed his hands around Jaden's throat in a similar lock.   
Seconds later, the torches erupted into flame and Kaya appeared, her long, wavy hair free and wild and wearing a grey silk kimono the same shade as her eyes, with such a completely incredulous look on her strong features that Jaden almost laughed outright. "What the Holy Hell is going on out here!?" She demanded after a moment of shocked silence. Jaden and the attacker both turned to look at the young figure, each frozen in their strangling positions. They both glanced sideways at the other, and then released each other and faced her somewhat sheepishly. There was something about the angry tone in the short girl's voice that knocked the fight right out of him, and Jaden took the moment of uncomfortable silence to assess his attacker, whom he had not yet gotten a good look at.   
The man was roughly his mortal age, about six foot and very slender, with skin like alabaster and perfectly straight black hair which was worn just below the shoulders and half falling into his eyes, which were like obsidian, huge, wide-set and slanted with thick lashes. Jaden would never have voiced it, but he found this man's physical beauty almost tragic in nature, and that fact made him slightly afraid. This being's age was incalculable to him... as well as his true strength. Add that to the fact he reminded Jaden strongly of another black-eyed ancient...  
"Jaden? What in the world are you doing here? Aurelia will be thrilled! All she's been doing is saying 'Jaden this, Jaden that,' for five straight nights! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"  
Jaden smiled at the amber-blonde girl, who had apparently forgotten to be angry with them and was smiling in her contageous way. "Ano-sama, must you always insist on crushing first, asking later?" She rebuked gently in Japanese. One of the more surprising effects of the Dark Gift was the ability to understand at least the jist of a foreign language. Jaden was thankful for it now, or else he'd have been lost in the conversation. "So capable that a stranger made his way into your home without your knowledge?"  
Anosuke replied with a surprisingly melodious voice, and slight smile in an attempt to belie the concern etched in his eyes. "Oh, hush, you! Jaden is not a stranger at all! Now both of you, come with me. And Jaden, you'd better clean up before Aurelia sees you or she will have an absolute fit where she stands!"  
"Ah, by the way.. Jaden, this is Anosuke Kazuya."  
"How do you do." Jade muttered drily, sending a look that was almost a glare at the other man.  
"Ano-sama, watashi no yujin o goshokai shimasu-- Jaden Phoenix."  
The creature known as "Ano-sama"turned to him with no readable expression, and bowed his head regally, his eyes never leaving Jaden's own.  
"I guess you to already know each other..." Kaya said with a roll of her eyes. And with those words, she spun around and went back into her flat proper, and they followed without question, each trying to size up the other without being too obvious. 


	3. Enter Kaya

She could be quite an intimidating figure if she really tried, and Kaya Ashlen knew it. In fact, that was her main advantage as she saw it. Her other advantage was that although attractive as a girl, she could appear male if she cut off her long hair and wore baggy clothes. She did this often, going out in the guise of a young foreign student in a baggy denim jacket, books in arm.   
She wasn't attractive in the way that Aurelia was, certainly not. Kaya thought herself to be more handsome than delicately pretty like her friend. She had long, wavy amber-blonde hair that appeared golden most of the time, but a soft red at certain angles, and with some highlights so pale they were white, and others a deep auburn. Her dark grey eyes were just large enough to make her look naive, but possessed the slightest tilt adorned with long golden lashes giving a hint of the mischief within her. They appeared salt green in the sunlight, but that wasn't an issue anymore. Her eyes were a tribute to her changing moods. Like the sea, they were ever ebbing, always changing, high tide, low tide. Sometimes green, sometimes blue, but always the same grey somewhere. If anything would give away her true gender, she decided, reaching up and grasping the braid of long hair before chopping it off without a thought, it was her mouth. Her lips were full and pouting and despite the work of the blood in her, retained their rosy redness. Ano had often complimented her lips, and not only with words. No person blessed with sight would think that hers was the mouth of a young man. Her greatest chore was disquising them, not allowing anyone to look too closely.   
She worked busily with her scissors, trimming her chopped hair into an acceptable male style and marveling yet again at the transformation in her face. Without her hair, her cheekbones seemed more defined and less feminine, her chin a little less pointed and her eyes a little smaller. She then stripped off her silken obi, kimono and under gown and pulled on her male costume; a school uniform stolen from a victim who'd done less than honorable acts to a female student in his grade. After this, she collected all the hair clippings, storing them carefully in a carved ebony box in her dressing table and locking it securely with a small silver key, which she stored in her pocket.  
Thus attired and disquised, Kaya slipped out the window of her shinshitsu and climbed swiftly to the roof, where she lept form building to building until finally descending to the sidewalk and hurrying on her way. She hated to use such stealth with those she loved, but it had become nessecary to guard her secrets. Anosuke most definetly would have put an end to her masquerade, always and forever a traditonal Japanese man at heart. His strong Japanese values and her indulged American upbringing were perhaps their only true conflict. She boarded a train and traveled to a neighboring city, where she often hunted.  
It was not long before she found her victim, a female from Osaka, sent to assasinate some businessman by one who had borrowed a large deal of money from him and did not wish to repay it.  
After this, she boarded another train to return to her city. Hiroshima held a special place within her. It was here, a young student, that she'd met Anosuke Kazuya for the first time, under the moonlit trees in the silent Peace Park. Her young heart, ignorant of what he truly was, had fallen fast in love and had remained so after her return to San Diego, and for the following two years before she'd been brought over. Only then did she return to her haunted city to find Ano, and only then did she realize exactly what he was.  
Kaya sighed, hugging her arms to her chest. She was often confused now. The true meaning of what she'd accepted with the blood was beginning to sink in, and her heart ached at the thought of all the deaths she'd brought about. But never, never would she spill human blood in Hiroshima, her city, nor in Nagasaki. There were enough vagrant souls wandering their streets, forever haunting the alley ways and rebuilt structures. There had been enough death in these places, and she would not add more. Such was a vow she'd made and kept faithfully, always leaving the city limits to hunt or denying herself the blood altogether if it was too late. This was one promise that she would keep, no matter the cost.  
Now she took full advantage of her time alone and strolled carelessly throught the crowded downtown area, her hands in her pockets and the top two buttons of the black uniform open.  
She paused to glance into the arcade, where mortals of her physical age battled each other with the computerized games. She continued on, browsing a display of plastic food in a glass resturaunt counter, and admiring a kimono-inspired satin gown in a store's showcase window. Here now, two schoolgirls, exactly the age she'd been when she accepted the dark gift, giggled shyly and cast adoring eyes in her direction. So complete was her disguise! Kaya resisted the urge to laugh outloud, and winked at them instead, enjoying her masquerade entirely too much. The girls laughed and blushed and waved at her, and then she once more went on her way, shaking her head and chuckling to herself. If those girls had realized that it was in fact a woman they flirted with, they would've nearly died of embarassment!  
It was time to return home. Kaya glanced to the left and right, and then lept up onto a bright awning and easily clamored up the side of a building without being seen. She then hurtled soundlessly for rooftop to rooftop, until, reaching her own building, she jumped into the open window and landed in her shinshitsu. She stripped off her uniform and pulled on a navy blue floral yukata, and banded it with a yellow-gold obi. Then she unlocked the ebony box, and using great skill and care, she pinned the braid of cut hair onto the back of her head like a bun, being very attentive lest she miss a curled short end and give it all away. She then re-hid her costume under the tatami lining the floor, and relocked her little box. Time to find her guests!  
Aurelia was in her guest room. Kaya had designed the place almost entirely with Aurelia in mind. The futon lay on a raised platform in the center with five cushioned steps that led up to it, surrounded by netted curtains of soft gold and draped with rose-red silk quilts and countless tiny pillows of the same warm shade. The floor and dressing table were of carved mahogany, as was the elabortately carved mirror frames. Various bottles and jars of alabaster, jade and ivory littered the small dressing table, filled with fragrant powders, oils and perfumes. Delicate rice paper scrolls hung on the wall painted in the traditional way, and orchids and jasmine bloomed everywhere, year-round. In the middle of all this far-eastern splendor lounged Aurelia, clad in a soft red robe of the Western style and little red satin slippers. She appeared to be reading a paperback novel, a pastime enjoyed immensely by both of the girls, and had a tiny smile playing acriss her graceful lips.  
"'Evening, Rel-chan!" Kaya quipped cheerfully.  
"Oh! Good evening, Kaya!" Her friend relplied, smiling prettily. Mischeif played in her dark brown eyes and she giggled a little. Kaya raised a brow, her curiosity stirred by her friend's mysterious smile.  
"Oooh.... alright! What's the big secret, Rel?" Kaya demanded, taking a joyful bounce with the full intention of landing with a 'poof!' in the soft quilts surrounding Aurelia.  
"Kaya! Don't do tha--!" Aurelia started, but she didn't have time to finish, because Kaya landed just as she realized there was an odd shape under the literal half-foot of quilts on the bed.  
"OOMPH!" Jaden cried, flipping the covers back quickly in dismay. "Are you trying to kill me all over again!?" He demanded indignantly. Kaya was sprawled inelegantly between the lovers, and her jaw dropped in shock. Her hands flew to cover her open mouth, her eyes wide in disbelief. Aurelia, next to her, had collapsed backwards into the mountain of pillows and lay there laughing almost hysterically.  
"Oh. My. Gods. I am so sorry, Jaden! I honestly did not see you under there!" She gasped.  
"Your accurate aim would suggest otherwise!" Jaden groaned, propping himself up on one arm and massaging his sore ribcage. "Well, you know what this means, don't you, little girl?"   
"Umm... what?" Kaya relpied in a tiny voice, still completely unsettled. Aurelia continued giggling, but could now sit up of her own accord.  
"REVENGE!" Jaden cried with a laugh, whipping a pillow out from behind him with the intention of whacking Kaya with it. Kaya, however, quickly recovered from her embarassment, and knew that being hit with a rice-hull pillow was considerably less comfortable than a feather one. So she ducked.... and Jaden's weapon clubbed Aurelia right in the face.  
"Ooh!" The strawberry-blonde huffed, her hair now mussed and her coffee-brown eyes blazing.  
"Eep," Jaden murmured after his initial shock, and then retreated back under the covers. Aurelia laughed again, and dove after his huddled form, though she remained above the quilts. Unfortunately, she forgot Kaya was in the way, and ended up plowing right into her friend who let out a cry of protest as she was thrown right over the other side of Jaden and almost onto the hard floor, which was quite a drop from the platform!  
"That does it!" She shrieked with a giggle, reaching for one of the few feather pillows on the bed. She then smacked Aurelia with it. "Ag! Help!" The girl cried in mock fear, betrayed by her jovial voice, and Jaden came blundering up from his silken hiding place, at which point Aurelia grabbed another feather pillow and cracked him in the face at the same time Kaya got him in the back of the head with hers.  
Jaden growled, grabbed the quilts, and pulled, sending both the tittering girls sprawling onto the floor below.  
"FOUL!" Aurelia cried between laughing spasms, but Kaya responded by grabbing the edge of the futon and yanking it out from beneath the young man, who landed in a tumble of tangled limbs beside them. The girls then both proceded to pillow-attack him until all three were laughing so hard they never even noticed the presence of a fourth in the room.  
"Kaya-chan, what are you doing?" A soft, solemn, heavily-accented voice asked dubiously from the screened doorway.  
"Ano-sama!" She gasped, forgetting all the fun she'd just had and flying to her feet, her hand reaching back to check her pinned-on hair which was miraculously still fully intact. There were a few moments of tense silence in the destroyed shinshitsu. Anosuke was two hundred and seventeen years old. What could he possibly make of her rolling about in a ruined mortal bed, beating her guests with pillows and giggling like a school girl? Anosuke gave them all a half-puzzled, half dissaproving look, and then left as silently as he came. Kaya frowned, her full lips pouting and the true measure of her extreme youth showing obvivously. He would never understand! Never in a million years... that thought gave Kaya pause for a moment, realizing that it was perfectly plausible for Ano to reach the million year age-marker. And what would they be by then? Frozen stautes, or pure spirits without body or emotion? She closed her eyes and shuddered at the thought.  
"Kaya? Kaya, honey? I'm sure he didn't mean it like that," Aurelia said in a comforting tone, and Kaya knew that her friend was obviously misreading her sudden dread. Kaya shook her head, her lips trembling. "I-I have to go explain to him... about... I have to... go," She murmured, stepping quickly over the fallen futon and rushing out of the room with apparent terror, gliding swiftly down the halls and into her private suite, the only place in the flat Jaden and Aurelia were forbidden to go. 


	4. Enter Aurelia, and....

Behind her, Jaden and Aurelia exchanged worried glances, and then also stood and rushed from the room. "You know how she is when she gets like this," Aurelia whispered anxiously as they walked quickly together through the maze that was Kaya's home, tracking their friend and stopping abruptly as the said girl shut the paper screen to her private rooms practically in their faces with a tearful plea of  
"Nyujo okotowari!"  
The pair stared at the door in silence for a moment, and then turned to look at each other.   
"Does he always have that affect on her when she tries to have fun?" Jaden asked, his still strong distrust of the elder male apparent. "No, it's the strangest thing! They're always acting like fools together, battling with the katana in the front hall or leaping out from empty rooms to startle each other! I don't get it at all!" The lovely young woman responded. "We have to go find Anosuke. Maybe he can get her out of this mood. If not, well, you remember what happened last time..." She continued, drifting off and biting her lower lip slightly.  
"Um, she ran off to Japan to find him and we didn't know if she was destroyed or not until three months ago?"  
"Yeah, that. But where could she run to now?"  
"Good point."  
Aurelia sighed, gazing at the painted birds on the screen, wishing she dared to go in and console her friend. "Let's go get the guy," Jaden said after a moment in which he, too, stared at the tranquil screen in comptemplation. Aurelia nodded once, and then turned, taking off down the narrow hallways again.  
"Anosuke! Anosuke, please come here!" She called, checking each doorway as she passed, until finally she came to Anosuke's library and spied him inside, kneeling on a cusion with an anceint scroll in his long, graceful hands.  
"Hai?" He said questioningly by way of reply, his dark eyes never leaving the rice paper for an instant.   
"It's Kaya... she's having one of her spells again, and we thought..."  
Ano sighed and looked up at her, and she saw the sadness invade his eyes, his entire body seeming to droop slightly. "And she has gone to her private rooms?" He questioned with his heavy accent.  
"Yes, Anosuke. We don't dare follow her. But maybe--"  
He nodded sharply, cutting off her sentence off as if with a harsh word. Aurelia was more than a little in awe with this powerful being whom she knew so little about, and this awe made her timid in his presence.  
He watched her calmly for a minute, his eyes frowning, and then turned his shining gaze to Jaden, behind her in the doorway. "You have no cause to fear me," he said in a soft, almost wistful voice. "Well, maybe he has, but you do not. I will go to Kaya, and I will try to comfort her, but I believe you have misunderstood the cause of her changed mood." With that, he stood and made his way past them, pausing for one moment to put his hand on Jaden's shoulder in the doorway, and then moving quietly to Kaya's rooms. Aurelia and Jaden stood silently for a moment without moving.  
"What was that all about?" Jaden finally said, rubbing his shoulder where the marble-like hand had clasped him and casting a confused glance over his shoulder at the retreating ancient.  
"I'm not sure. It's not that I fear him, but..."  
"I don't fear him!" Jaden said with a resentful scowl, and Aurelia couldn't help but smile a little.   
"Don't get all macho on me, now. I never even knew about the guy until I got here. He startled me witless! I thought I was alone while Kaya was out, and I opened the door, and it was like AAAH! He was just there, and.... I'm babbling, aren't I?" She finished, catching Jaden's half-cocked grin.  
"No, not at all, love. Just pratteling a bit."  
"You!" She scolded playfully, and they left the room. Aurelia felt reassured as Jaden's strong hand took hers and squeezed gently. "Let's go to the Peace Park. I know you haven't seen it, and it's lovely there. I think we should give Kaya and Anosuke some time." She suggested, leading him through the labyrinth again.   
"How did Kaya get tangled up with that guy, anyway? I mean, they seem so different, and all. He's so serious! It's like he's Kaya's complete opposite, or something," Jaden commented as they walked out of the building and into the cooling night air. The streets were still busy, crammed with cars, taxis and buses. Teenagers on bicycles raced past the rushing pedestrians, mostly going out for a late dinner or heading home from a movie or a show, and the stores with their neon signs were still doing steady business, even at this hour.   
"Opposites attract, you know," She said with a musing expression on her delicate features. "Anosuke's not really a bad guy, I just don't think he knows exactly how to behave with so many immortals around. Especially young immortals. He strikes me as the loner type."  
"I guess so," Jaden replied a bit harshly, obviously thinking of the greeting he'd received two nights ago.  
"He was only trying to protect us, hon." She sighed with a light smile and a hand on his arm.  
"I guess it is a little reassuring , seeing exactly what kind of alarm system Kaya has in that place, but did he have to shoot first, shoot again, shoot some more and then try to ask a few questions?"  
Aurelia giggled and slipped her arm around Jaden's waist, and he put his around her shoulders, and together they walked off to the peaceful oasis that was Peace Park.  
  
  
She sat motionless on the bank of the river, staring down at her still-as-glass reflection.   
Her face was heart-shaped and delicate; with high cheekbones and a slightly pointed chin. She had a baby doll's mouth and lips, and a small nose perfectly proportioned to her face. Her eyes were large and deep brown, fringed with thick sable lashes that curled perfectly. Her eyebrows were darker than her long strawberry-blonde hair, which was a lighter shade than Kaya's and certainly not as wildly wavy. Skin as white as January ice and as smooth as silk, long fingernails like crystal and a voice like the song of a reed flute. That's me, Aurelia sighed silently, leaning over a bit more and pushing a stray strand of hair behind one seashell perfect ear. Sometimes she almost resented how much she resembled a porcelain doll. People who didn't know her tried to treat her as if she were made of Venetian glass; but those who did know her reconized the firey spirit hidden beneath so much elegance. Was it not her fragile appearance that had drawn Him to her so long ago? She frowned in rememberence of that confused and blurred time in her life. She and Jaden had been sharing an apartment for only a short time when their mortal tempers flared and an explosive argument had sent Aurelia running down the street and into the night in her nightgown. She'd taken nothing but her purse and her flowing silk night garments, even forgetting footwear in her blind fury. It was a miracle she had remebered her purse, even.  
Jaden sat down behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "Don't think about that awful night, love. We're together now, for all eternity," his mind whispered to hers, and she nodded, leaning her head to touch his. It was heaven to sit here together like this, safe in each other's arms. If she'd had to trade a lifetime of mortal riches for an unnatural eternity in Jaden's arms, then so be it. She smiled and sighed and brought her arms up to embrace his, and was just about to murmur a silent relpy when she realized the arms she was holding were her own! Aurelia's eyes snapped open in terror.  
"Jaden!" She cried in a panic, leaping up on the riverbank and searching frantically for him. If this was his idea of some sort of cruel joke... "Jaden! Where are you?" she cried again, scanning the entire empty park once more, and once again before finally spying him a few yards away, looking about as confused as she felt. "What on Earth are you doing way over there!?" Aurelia demanded, her temper flaring and flashing through her eyes. Jaden shook his head in mild confusion and opened his mouth to reply, then froze and stared not at her, but behind her. Aurelia felt a chill go up her spine.  
"I had to get the attention of you two somehow. After all these years, you still act like a mortal couple on their honeymoon!" A soft, gentle voice said with a touch of humour right into her ear. She felt dazed by sudden recognition, and shut her eyes slowly and re-opened them, twice.  
Jaden suddenly burst into joyful, relieved laughter. Aurelia turned and found herself staring up into a face as smooth and white as polished alabaster, with deep black eyes that sparkled with mischief and mirth.  
"Y-you're back!" She breathed, and the being laughed loudly, lifting her by the waist and spinning her in a small circle before catching Jaden up in a tight embrace. After setting her love back on his feet, the being stood before them, his eyes filled with garnet tears.  
"K-kayman! My God, it really is you!" She exclaimed suddenly, hugging him and kissing his cheek again and again.   
"My children! My precious children! You thought I'd left you for good, didn't you?" Her maker cried, stroking her hair and pulling Jaden back into the embrace. "How do the mortals say it? Ah, yes! Group Hug!" He cried, lifting them off their feet and spinning them again.   
Aurelia felt breathless and confused-- two emotions that commonly found their way to her being when she was with Khayman. "Where ever have you been all this time!" She demanded once he'd placed them back on their feet, again. Jaden grabbed her shoulder for balance and shook his head a bit. Their master shrugged indifferently. "Delphi, not that it matters much. Let me guess, your next question will be 'What were you doing there'? Ah, I know you well, my charming girl! I was doing nothing. Absolutely nothing but feeling lonesome and longing for my children and wondering why I hade ever left them to begin with. So I returned to your city, to find you gone. I tracked you to New Orleans, to learn that you'd just recently left. And it is, ironically, to the Land of the Rising Sun that I followed you!" He finished, wiping his tears away with the backs of his grey-gloved hands.  
"Then you know of the others? Those we are here with?" Aurelia asked, still not quite sure that this was all for real.  
"Others?" Khayman asked, tilting his head slightly, his eyebrows pursing in confusion. Jaden and Aurelia exchanged a look.   
"Should we take him? Or will it really freak Kaya out too much?" Jaden questioned silently.  
"Don't worry about Kaya. She'll love him to bits.... but how will Anosuke react?" Aurelia replied in the same manner. Khayman pouted. "No fair leaving me out! You think your companions will dislike me," he sighed. It wasn't a question. Aurelia giggled a little and poked him affectinately in the ribs, and Jaden just shook his head. Aurelia then smiled her best and took Jaden's arm. "I'm sure they'll love you. C'mon, Jaden. Let's take him to the flat." 


End file.
